Oklahoma City center offers computer classes, free access to public

For Monica Guzman, 35, of Oklahoma City, everything about computers was once a mystery. That is until she started attending classes at Intergenerational Computer Center.

A Positive Tomorrows first grader uses JumpStart on a computer at the Oklahoma City University Intergenerational Computer Center in Oklahoma City Friday. Photo by Paul B. Southerland, The Oklahoman PAUL B. SOUTHERLAND - PAUL B. SOUTHERLAND

“I feel sometimes like a little kid,” Guzman said. “For me everything is new, because I don't know how to use computers.”

She said her friends used to tease her because she didn't even know how to turn on a computer.

Guzman and a dozen or so other women in an Oklahoma Family Literacy Program are working toward earning their GEDs, but first must master English as a second language and the basics of computers.

Their class meets for two hours each week at the center.

The Intergenerational Computer Center has been open just over a year and offers free computer classes to people of all ages. The center even offers an area where children can play while their parents work on computers.

The center is funded by a $1.4 million federal grant and supported heavily by Oklahoma City University, which provides student workers and the center's facility. The center is at 2501 Blackwelder Ave. at the intersection of NW 27 and Florida.

In the classroom next to where the group of women diligently works toward their goals, a group of second- and third-graders from Positive Tomorrows, a charter school for homeless children, eagerly learn how to embed photos into Word documents. These children have already mastered the basics of Power Point and several other programs.

“For our clientele, access to technology is a huge thing,” said Susan Agel, executive director of Positive Tomorrows. “That's become one of the very basic things you need to know to do well in school and to have a job.”